Apple: HTTP Live Stream Technology Now Required for Streaming Video

HTTP live stream technology is now required for streaming video according to Apple's new iPhone developer RSS feed.

An innovative feature of iPhone OS 3.0 is support for HTTP Live Streaming technology. One of the great benefits this technology delivers is the ability to dynamically adjust to varying network bandwidth conditions. It lets you store multiple video clips of different quality on the server, and then deliver the one that matches what the requesting customer is capable of viewing given the network they have access to. Use of it is now required for all applications which deliver streaming video. You must include a low quality stream of no more than 64 Kbps for your app to resort to when network conditions demand it, along with the higher quality streams you want to deliver to your customers when the network can support it.

You are Dr. Alan Probe, an Amateur Surgeon who has had a horrible midair collision with Santa's sleigh. Now it is up to you to try to heal the injured faery-folk and save Xmas. This will be a difficult feat, as you have few skills and your tools would, frankly, scare an inquisitor from the middle ages. (What, the thought of toy grabber-arms and and etch-o-sketches as surgical gear doesn't terrify you?).

If you have a steady hand and don't mind a splash of gore in your cartoony fun, give this game a shot. The power of Christmas compels you! ….flatline

Verizon Prepared to Handle iPhone in 2010 -- If Exclusivity Ends with AT&T

If Apple ends US iPhone exclusivity with AT&T in 2010, could Verizon handle the handset that currently crushes service in data-dense cities like San Francisco and New York? BusinessWeek scored the quote from Verizon Wireless Chief Technology Officer Anthony Melone:

"We have put things in place already. We are prepared to support that traffic."

"It comes down to backing that process with money. We've been more consistent than any carrier in the last 10 years investing year over year."

I’ll confess from the start that I wasn't terribly familiar with Nokia’s platforms coming into this review. They dominate the rest of the world, of course, but for a variety of reasons they haven’t made much of a dent here in North America yet. Lucky for me, the SPE network has reached across the pond to Seattle (hey, there must be ponds between Montreal and Seattle!) to bring Matthew Miller to the table this year. His tremendous knowledge and enthusiasm -- along with the incredible help I received from the NokiaExperts community -- are the only reason this review was able to happen. So to him and to them; thanks.

(Speaking of the NokiaExperts community, remember you can still jump on that thread and each day you reply, you're entered to win your choice of Nokia smartphones, including the two reviewed below!)

Our friends over at PreCentral.net bring word that Palm has launched a beta version of their browser-based IDE (integrated development environment) for webOS called Project Ares (sounds Manga, harkens to the Hellenic god of war -- nice!). Supports Safari, Chrome, and Firefox (no mention of Internet Explorer?).

You can simply fire up your browser and go to http://ares.palm.com/, sign in with your developer account, and get coding.

WordPress and Tumblr show iPhone Tweetie and Twitterrific Not Just for Twitter Anymore

Tweetie 2 and Twitterrific 2 aren't just two of the best Twitter clients for the iPhone, they're two of the best mobile micro-blogging interfaces on the planet and now both WordPress and Tumblr are taking advantage of them -- which is ridiculously awesome for iPhone users.

WordPress now lets you "Post and Read via Twitter API", and they have a complete walkthrough posted on how to set it up.

TiPb Top 5 iPhone Bluetooth Headsets

The following Top 5 iPhone Bluetooth Headsets guide is sponsored by the TiPb iPhone Accessory Store

The holidays are fast approaching and what a better last minute gift to give than a fancy new Bluetooth headset! With so many choices out there we figured many of you could use some help choosing the right headset. Today we'd like to give you our top five headsets available within TiPb's iPhone Accessory store! Our picks are as follows:

TiPb Invades PalmCast #88 -- Smartphone Round Robin!

Derek, and Keith were gracious enough to invite me on to this week's PalmCast live to help Dieter figure out why he couldn't find a physical keyboard on the iPhone 3GS, and how to get to all the amazing games and apps in the App Store amid tens of thousands of $0.99 farty flashlights. He did fine. Hopefully we all did, and it's live on the web and in iTunes now for one and all to enjoy... or to give us what for in the comments.

NOVA now LIVE in the App Store!

For those of use that have been patiently waiting for the arrival of Gameloft's NOVA, the day has arrived! This game looks to be the ultimate FPS for the iPhone with an unrivaled multiplayer experience. I have only had time to quickly run through the tutorial level, but so far, so good; I am hooked.